UNC Hands Clemson Another Loss

Clemson's first losing streak of the season could be attributed to bad timing. <br/><br/>The Tigers' first game after their first loss was against a team that no intention of losing its second

Thursday, January 18th 2007, 6:23 am

By: News On 6

Clemson's first losing streak of the season could be attributed to bad timing.

The Tigers' first game after their first loss was against a team that no intention of losing its second straight, either.

North Carolina, playing for the first time since losing its No. 1 ranking, beat Clemson 77-55 on Wednesday night, the Tigers' second straight loss after starting the season with 17 consecutive wins.

Freshman Brandan Wright had 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting for the fourth-ranked Tar Heels (16-2, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who lost 94-88 at Virginia Tech last Saturday.

``That's not the type of team that we are,'' Wright said referring to the loss to the Hokies that snapped a 13-game winning streak and ended the Tar Heels' stay at No. 1 at one week. ``We wanted to show who we were. We put that behind us and took it to the next game.''

Unfortunately for the Tigers (17-2, 3-2), who were the last unbeaten team in Division I until losing 92-87 at Maryland on Saturday, they were that next game.

``We wanted to come back and bounce back strong,'' said Tyler Hansbrough, who had 16 points for visiting North Carolina. ``Nothing's going to take away that Virginia Tech feeling, but this is supposed to be the way we feel.''

Four other ranked teams lost Wednesday: Vanderbilt beat No. 10 Alabama 94-73; Villanova defeated No. 20 Notre Dame 102-87; Auburn downed No. 22 Tennessee 83-80; and Florida State beat No. 23 Virginia Tech 82-73.

In other games involving ranked teams, it was: No. 2 Wisconsin 69, Purdue 64; No. 7 Ohio State 73, Northwestern 41; No. 16 LSU 62, Mississippi 55; and No. 18 Butler 67, Youngstown State 39.

Wright, who leads the ACC in field-goal percentage, was just 1-of-8 from the field in the loss to Virginia Tech. He had three inside baskets as North Carolina closed the opening half against Clemson with a 20-9 run that made it 44-31.

``I try and come out focused every day,'' Wright said. ``I come out with the mind-set to play hard every play.''

Wright hit three baskets over the first 3 minutes of the second half as the lead increased to 54-35.

James Mays and Cliff Hammonds both had 15 points for the Tigers.

K.C. Rivers, Clemson's leading scorer, was held to four points, nearly 12 below his average. None of the Tigers had much of a game as far as shooting went. Clemson was 23-of-68 from the field, 4-of-19 from 3-point range and 5-of-19 from the free-throw line.

``When you come up dry from the field and you come up dry from the line, you're going to have a hard time,'' Clemson coach Oliver Purnell said.

No. 2 Wisconsin 69, Purdue 64

Michael Flowers scored 15 points for the Badgers (18-1, 4-0 Big Ten), who overcame poor shooting (3-for-17 from 3-point range) to win their 14th straight.

Gordon Watt had 18 points for the Boilermakers (13-6, 2-3).

No. 7 Ohio St. 73, Northwestern 41

Mike Conley Jr. had a career-high 17 points and fellow point guard Jamar Butler added 16 points for the Buckeyes (15-3, 3-1 Big Ten), who won their 14th straight over Northwestern.

Conley also had 10 assists.

Craig Moore had 11 points for the Wildcats (10-8, 0-5), who have not won in Columbus since Feb. 24, 1977 _ a string of 24 consecutive losses.

Vanderbilt 94, No. 10 Alabama 73

Shan Foster scored 27 points for the Commodores (12-6, 2-2 Southeastern Conference), who had a season-high 15 3-pointers and shot 58 percent in their second win over a ranked team in eight days. They beat then-No. 16 Tennessee 82-81 on Jan. 10.

Mykal Riley had 21 points for Alabama (14-3, 1-2), which has lost nine straight in Nashville. The Crimson Tide's other conference loss this season was 88-61 at Arkansas.

No. 16 LSU 62, Mississippi 55

Tasmin Mitchell scored 19 points, Terry Martin added 15 and both hit a 3-pointer in the clinching second-half run for the Tigers (13-4, 2-1 SEC).

Clarence Sanders paced the visiting Rebels (12-6, 1-3) with 12 points.

No. 18 Butler 67, Youngstown St. 39

Pete Campbell went 5-for-5 on 3s and scored a season-high 17 points for the Bulldogs (16-2, 4-1 Horizon League), who were 14-for-24 from 3-point range and extended their home winning streak to 18 games.

Keston Roberts had 11 points for the Penguins (8-11, 3-4).

Villanova 102, No. 20 Notre Dame 87

Freshman Scottie Reynolds scored 27 points, Curtis Sumpter had 21 and Dante Cunningham added 19 for the Wildcats (12-5, 2-3 Big East).

Russell Carter hit six 3-pointers and scored 26 points for the Irish (15-3, 3-2), who were playing in the Pavilion for the first time since 1996. Notre Dame lost for only the second time in its last 16 games.

Auburn 83, No. 22 Tennessee 80

Quan Prowell scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half, including four free throws in the final 22 seconds, for the Tigers (12-7, 2-2 SEC), who trailed 66-52 midway through the second half.

The first two of the free throws came after a technical foul was assessed to Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl with his team trailing by two points.

Chris Lofton had 22 points for the visiting Volunteers (13-5, 1-2), who had lost their last two games by a combined three points on shots in the final seconds.

Florida St. 82, No. 23 Virginia Tech 73

Al Thornton scored all of his 27 points in the second half for the Seminoles (13-5, 1-3 ACC), who were 31-of-34 from the free-throw line in snapping a three-game losing streak. Thornton had 11 of his 13 rebounds in the second half when he was 8-of-13 from the field and 10-of-11 from the line.

Zabian Dowdell had 23 points for the visiting Hokies (13-5, 3-1), who trailed by 18 points early in the second half. Virginia Tech, which beat Duke and North Carolina in the previous eight days, moved into the Top 25 this week for the first time since 1996. The Hokies had won four straight and nine of 10.